Guilt
by Dragonheart Wandcore
Summary: Lily is James, and James is Lily. Lily's just minding her own business, picking on old Severa Snape... well, you get it. AU one-shot.


**A/N: Sweet Merlin, you don't know how hard this was to write! It took me two days to write this. IT WAS SO HARD. I think I overdid it. I may have rushed through it. I hope I didn't.**

**I'm scared.**

**Just warning you, James may come off too Lily-ish, as in, maybe I made him girly. Did I? I don't know. I'M NERVOUS. I'll stop rambling now, k.**

**Scared…**

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><p>"Merlin, they're not picking on Severa Snape again?" James Potter asked his friends exasperatedly. "Bloody hell, they <em>are." <em>James Potter and his best mates Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew entered the Great Hall to find the usual sight; Lily Evans and Mary MacDonald, the two great Hogwarts pranksters, had their wands pointed at a Slytherin girl with long, black hair who was on the floor, spluttering pink bubbles.

"_Oppungo!" _Lily Evans called, and several angry-looking blue birds shot out of her wand like a bullet and hit Severa Snape, the Slytherin who was crouched on the floor, several times before disappearing into smoke. The surrounding crowd laughed, including Evans and MacDonald. Severa tried to grab at her wand, which lay on the floor a few inches away, until Mary MacDonald called, "Oh no you don't! _Petrificus Totalus!" _Severa froze, her arm still outstretched for her wand.

"Planning a sneak attack, were you, Snivelly?" Lily asked cruelly, crouching low to look Severa in the eye. Severa' black eyes glared threateningly into Lily's emerald-green eyes. She stood upright and ran her fingers through her red, wavy hair and called, "I'm afraid you'll have to pay for that one, tisk tisk…." Just as Lily Evans pointed her wand at Severa again with a vindictive grin plastered on her face, James Potter shoved his way through the crowd and called, "_Stop! _Leave her alone!" Lily Evans looked up at the intruder, and her face softened.

"Oh, hey Potter," she greeted nonchalantly. "Fancy seeing you here, huh?"

"Leave her alone," Potter repeated. He glared at Lily with every sign of dislike. "What has she done to you?"

"Well," Lily began, appearing to really consider the question. "It's more the fact that she _exists, _if you know what I mean…." The surrounding crowd laughed.

"You think you're funny," he said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Evans. Leave her alone."

"I will if you go out with me," Lily replied quickly. "Go on, go out with me… and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

Seeming to really contemplate the question, James replied after a minute, "I wouldn't go out with you if it were a choice between you and Mrs. Norris."

"Too bad," Lily sighed. "_Engorgio!" _Severa, able to move again, began to swell… and swell… and swell… soon, her clothes would explode off….

"_Deletrius!" _Potter pointed her wand at Snape at the nick of time. She collapsed on the floor.

"_Petrificus Totalus!" _Mary called, and Severa was frozen again, eyes glaring more intensely at them than ever.

"Let go of Sev!" James commanded, pointing a finger at the Slytherin on the floor. Unwillingly, Lily rolled her eyes, pointed her wand at Severa reluctantly, and Snape stood up in a flash, looking for her wand.

"Looking for _this, _Snivelly?" Mary asked with a glint in her eye, balancing Severa's wand between her fingers. Mary tossed it to Lily just as Severa lunged at her, and Lily sidestepped as Severa attempted to grab it from her.

"Give it back!" said James, who grabbed it from behind Lily's back and tossed it to Severa. Snape, unbalanced as she was, missed it, but instead _Lily _caught it once again.

With an exaggerated sigh, she handed Severa her wand and called, "Lucky you had Potter here to help you."

Severa clenched her fists and shouted, "I don't _need _help from a filthy little Mudblood like _him!" _And then everything was quiet. It was tense.

Potter blinked twice before muttering, "Fine. I won't bother in the future."

"_Apologize to Potter!" _Lily commanded, wand aimed straight between Severa's black eyes. Mary shouted, _"Expelliarmus!" _and Severa was disarmed once again.

"I don't want _you _to make her apologize!" said Potter. "You're just as bad as she is."

"_What?" _yelped Evans. "I'd _never _call you a—a you-know-what!"

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing everyone just because you can—I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that big fat head on it." He spun around to turn away.

"Potter!" Lily shouted after him. "Hey _Potter!" _But he didn't look back.

"Man, what is _with _him?" Evans tried, and failed miserably, to ask as though it didn't matter to her.

"Reading between the lines," Mary began. "I'd say he thinks you're conceited."

"Right…," said Evans, looking furious. "Right….

"Well, Snivelly, looks like it's just us again. _Immobulus!" _Severa was frozen mid-position. Lily looked dissatisfied.

"Be right back…," she muttered to Mary, who stared at her retreating figure until Lily was completely hidden by the crowd.

"Ready for a ride, o Snivella?" was the last thing Lily heard Mary say before she disappeared from the Great Hall. Looking up and down the staircase for anyone and finding the coast clear, she pulled out a wrinkled piece of parchment, withdrew her wand, and pointed it at the middle of the parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Lily chanted, and as if someone was drawing them, lines and figures and names were sketched on the parchment in a blink of an eye. She scanned the parchment, and finding James Potter's name in the Gryffindor Common room, she pointed her wand at the paper again, muttered, "Mischief managed," and the lines and sketches disappeared. She hastily folded up the map into a square and started on her way up to the seventh floor.

Thanks to her flexed Quidditch legs, she made it up the highest tower of the castle two minutes later. Slightly panting, she called, "Jumping rattoads" to the Fat Lady portrait. Seeing the password Lily had said was correct, she nodded and swung forward.

The Gryffindor Common room was almost deserted, except two third-years sitting quietly in a corner and Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and James Potter talking loudly by the fire, laughing and deeply immersed in a game of Exploding Snap. James and Remus took up the couch while Sirius and Peter sat on either side of the table. The four looked up when the portrait swung open, and Potter was the first to look away from Evans.

Lily made her way towards the four. She leaned behind the couch next to Potter.

"Hey Potter," Evans called. James barely looked up at her.

"We should leave these two lovebirds alone," Sirius suggested with a wink at James (James glared intensely in response,) stood up and pulled Peter along with him to the boys' dormitories. Remus followed loyally.

"Hey, erm—listen, you and Sni—Severa, you're no longer friends now?"

"Well, I'm not sure you _heard,_" said James. He turned around from the couch to look up at her. "But she just called me a Mudblood in front of the entire world, so by guess, I'm thinking no." Lily's eyes widened.

"Sorry," she said, meaning it. "I know how much your friendship meant with her—I guess it was sort of my fault… I pressured her to calling you that, I sort of pushed her to saying—"

"I don't want an apology from _you," _James snapped, though he was thoroughly shock at the sincerity in her voice.

"Erm—right…," Lily muttered, and stood upright, though still standing behind the couch. "But I think you should forgive her nonetheless." Potter glared at her as if she grew a second head.

"I'm sorry, were you not there? Did you—?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, she called you a Mudblood in front of the entire school, but I'm positive she didn't mean it. She was just under pressure."

Potter's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, are you _defending _Sev? To me? And apologizing?"

Lily frowned. "Hmm… strange, huh?" She made her way around the couch and plopped in the seat Remus had just vacated.

"And you're not going to ask me out?" Potter asked incredulously.

"Well, no," Lily said with a frown, as if she found the idea ridiculous. Potter's mouth dropped.

"Why are you _apologizing?" _James asked angrily.

"_Because, _well, I feel bad," said Lily. "For _her. _And you. So—"

James cut her off by pulling her waist towards him and kissing her deeply. Stunned, Lily took a second to respond by pushing him closer and running her hands through his hair. It was softer than Lily ever expected. Lily inhaled deeply; Merlin, the boy even _smelled _perfect. Their mouths pressed harder against each other… a shiver ran down Lily's spine when James's tongue traced her lower lip… she tasted the sweetness radiating off of him… Lily's heart was thudding like a drumroll in her chest… the warmth emitted from James's chest was intoxicating, even through a sweater….

Lily pushed against James and broke up their kiss with an odd lip-smacking noise.

"P-Potter…," Lily stuttered, still intoxicated by his proximity. "You-you hate me—you're gonna end up regretting—"

"Shut up," he whispered, and kissed her again. Hesitant at first, but forgetting her train of thought in two seconds, she snaked her arms around him and pushed him closer, if possible. There was a certain place in his chest were Lily felt just right… the perfect place where her ribs fit in sync with his… she was aware of her heart beating excitedly… hands traced up her waists, across her ribs, back down again, and even through her sweater did there leave a burning sensation across the places he traced….

"_MOMENT BOMB!" _Sirius screamed in both their ears. They flinched in surprise and flipped around to glare at the source: Sirius was laughing loudly and hysterically. "I'm sorry," he gasped. "That was just _too _tempting…."

"Get lost, Padfoot," James snarled.

"Since basically, that's what I came down here for, guess I will," he shrugged, still grinning. "Stay safe now, don't have _too _much fun; we don't need any little JamesLilys running around, do we?" He was still laughing as he shuffled back up the boys' dormitories.

"Prick," Lily muttered, and hastily directed James's lips back to hers.

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><p><strong>AN: SO HOW WAS IT? Was it good? Was it bad? Merlin, I'm nervous. You won't believe how long it took me to write this. Grrr. I'm scared. Be positive to me.**

**I'm scared. **

**Be extraextra careful when you review. A single word could shatter me.**


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